PHR Student Blog

Earlier this month, Luis Moreno Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, addressed the United Nations Security Council (text (pdf), video (real audio player required)), and asked that body to use its authority to get Sudan to put an end to war crimes, and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Despite the fact that the International Criminal Court issued still-active warrants for suspects in May of 2007, the Sudanese Government still rejects their legal obligation to turn in the suspects.

As the article states, ICC suspects Harun and Kushayb “face 51 charges, including murder, rape and forced expulsions” in Darfur, where “200,000 to 300,000 people have died in the conflict … and 2.5 million have been displaced since it began in 2003.”

PHR calls for justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators in Darfur — in addition to demanding the cessation of attacks on innocent civilians by the Sudanese Government. Only with all three of these things is there the possibility of long-term peace and stability.

The Sudanese government’s key ally, China, has surprisingly issued calls to Khartoum to do more in ending the conflict in Darfur. As Sudan’s primary oil importer, western accusations have been aimed at China for the Chinese government’s lack of commitment in holding Khartoum accountable for the atrocities committed in Darfur. Pressure on China as the Olympics approaches has undoubtedly influenced the Chinese government to finally take action. However, it remains to be seen how much China is willing to use its leverage to pressure the Sudanese government.

Meanwhile, violence on the border between Darfur and eastern Chad continues to escalate with increases in the killing of Chadian civilians—despite the peacekeeping force of nearly 4,000 European soldiers, instructed to ensure the security of people displaced by conflicts involving rebel groups and militias in Chad, the Central African Republic, and Darfur.

I am pleased to note that Professor Eric Reeves of Smith College was given an honorary degree by the college for his “One-Man Campaign” to end the genocide in Darfur. PHR’s own Susannah Sirkin was part of a panel of experts invited to Smith to speak in honor of Dr. Reeves’ work, as well as comment on the work being done by their respective organizations. In light of International Women’s day, Susannah recounted her trip to Darfur three years ago, where she visited the Amel Center which treats rape survivors. In a particularly poignant moment, she described how she asked women she was meeting with whether they wanted anything specific from the States. They responded with saying they wanted law books. “These women want to go to The Hague,” Susannah said, “and God-willing, we’ll get them there.”

While small amounts of progress have been made in curbing the on-going violence in Darfur and holding the Sudanese government accountable for the atrocities committed in the region, a definitive resolution is far from being reached.

President Bush announced recently that though international efforts to address violence in Darfur are moving too slowly, the United States has the power to accelerate the process. The announcement makes persuading President Bush to include his plans for bringing peace to Darfur in his upcoming State of the Union address (the action mentioned in Karen Hirschfeld’s post) all the more relevant.

Furthermore, despite the proposed deployment of the 26,000 strong UN-AU hybrid force, inadequate troops, equipment shortages and security concerns have delayed deployment by six monts. UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno stated that “a grave deterioration of the security situation” has been occurring in Darfur for the past month, not only putting the lives of the 9,000 soldiers and police officers at risk, but also making the deployment of the rest of the peacekeeping mission all the more important.

Finally, while initially committed to compelling Khartoum to comply with the ICC, China and Russia have pressured the UNSC to discard a statement it was going to direct towards Sudan regarding compliance with ICC proceedings and the summonses the ICC has issued for two men accused of war crimes, Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushyb. The actions of China and Russia weaken the resolve that the UNSC previously had, and sends unwanted mixed messages to the Sudanese Government.

For more information, please contact Danielle Fox.

October 24, was United Nations Day. Many activist groups across the globe commemorated the date by organizing a call to action for Darfur. This year, in conjunction with Amnesty International’s Call for Action, the Afrosphere Darfur Action Coalition held a Day of Blogging Against Genocide to raise public awareness of the continuing violence in Darfur and to pressure the US and the world to take a stronger stand.

This week and every week the PHR Student Blog has a day of blogging on Darfur to try to do our part.

Here is some of the latest news:

Darfurian rebel groups and the Sudanese government have agreed to peace negotiations, but some rebel groups have opted out of the negotiations and are pushing for talks to be held in a country more neutral than Libya, such as South Africa.

Meanwhile, the Government of Sudan’s belligerence and lack of regard for the human rights of Darfurians continues. The GOS has been forcibly expelling inhabitants of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Darfur.

Now that the UN-AU hybrid peacekeeping force has opened its headquarters in El-Fashir, Darfur, let’s hope the troops can come online early next year, as promised, and offer the protection so desperately needed by Darfurians.

Just a couple of things for now:

• PHR recently protested Sudan’s nomination of Ahmed Haroun, a suspected war criminal, to co-chair a national committee investigating human rights abuses in Sudan’s Darfur region (PHR).
• The International aid agency, Oxfam, whose humanitarian operation in Darfur is one of its largest in the world, says that it will have to pull out of the region if the conflict continues to escalate (BBC).

This summer I’ll be keeping you updated on news relating to Darfur. Here are some of the significant developments since my last post:

• UN meets with potential contributors to hybrid peace force in Darfur (United Nations News Service)After President Bashir agreed to a combined UN-AU peacekeeping force for Darfur, the UN met with potential contributors for the hybrid force.

• Darfur Conference Ends In Paris (Voice of America)U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, along with representatives from the United Nations, China, Egypt, the Arab League and the European Union, attended a Conference on Darfur hosted in Paris. The conference, which did not include representatives from the Government of Sudan, any of the main rebel groups or the AU, was unable to reach any definitive decisions regarding action that the international community should take to end the violence in Darfur.

Until next time!

Hello everyone! My name is Meenu Menon, and I am the new Student Program intern at PHR. In the short time that I have been here, a great deal has happened, both at PHR and in the world. One of the most noteworthy events has been the new sanctions on Sudan that President Bush announced he will now implement in response to the Sudanese government’s continued belligerence against civilians in Darfur.

On May 29, President Bush announced, effective immediately, the United States government will take the following four steps to put pressure on Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his government:

• Further enforcing existing economic sanctions against 100 Sudanese companies banned from doing business with the United States.
• Adding 31 additional companies to the sanctions list, barring them from any dollar transactions within the United States financial system.
• Freezing the assets of two senior Sudanese officials and a rebel leader: Ahmad Haroun- state minister for humanitarian affairs, Awad ibn Auf- director of military intelligence, and Khalil Ibrahim- leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel group.
• Seeking a United Nations Security Council resolution that will impose a broad arms embargo against Sudan and bar the Sudanese government from conducting military flights in Darfur.

While the plan is a step in the right direction, critics say that, because the sanctions are unilateral, they will not have enough of an impact to significantly change the actions of the Bashir regime in Darfur. Moreover, since the U.S. has had sanctions in place against Sudan since 1997, the Sudanese have restructured their economy so as to not depend on the U.S. as a trade partner. This has become all the more evident since Sudan discovered oil in 1999. Sudan now pumps 500,000 barrels of oil a day, and receives investments from Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian companies, generating enough wealth for an economic boom in Khartoum.

Critics also fear that the plan will not be effective without the support of the international community. China, Russia, and South Africa all oppose economic sanctions for Sudan. China, Sudan’s most important trade partner, has consistently threatened to use its veto power in the UNSC. As China is also an important partner to the United States, some experts, including David Rubenstein, executive director of the Save Darfur Coalition, think that the United States “should make Sudan a higher priority in its diplomatic relations with China”.

Advocacy groups worldwide are pushing for actions to strengthen the plan, which include: utilizing a hybrid U.N. and African Union peacekeeping force of up to 29,000, placing multilateral sanctions against Sudanese companies, pressuring international banks to stop doing business with Sudan, reinforcing divestment efforts, and supporting the ICC indictment process.

To see PHR’s statement on the recent sanctions, click here.

For more information on the topic, go to:

1. Bush to Tighten Fiscal Penalties Against Sudan (NY Times)
   
2. Oil May Allow Sudan to Escape Sanctions’ Pain (NY Times)
3. Shooting Blanks at Sudan (enough)
4. Damanga Applauds Sanctions, But Says Peacekeepers Are Still Urgently Needed (Damanga)
   

or contact Danielle Fox (dfox at phrusa dot org).